Has someone put together a cookbook on installing the above? I have tried following the documentation; but it is in dire need of updating. I have become quite confused as to how to piece together alll of the parts. Seemed much easier in 10.2...
TIA!

'11g' must be considered very imprecise. Moreover, as 11gR2 XE exists, which comes with Apex.
Also, in 11g R2, there is no Oracle HTTP server anymore.
You need either to use the EPG facility (in the database) or the standalone Apex listener, or the Apex listener embedded in Glassfish or Weblogic.
During installation of the Apex listener, you will be prompted for the node, the port number and the sid or the service, it should connect to.

We cannot use 11gR2 XE because it does not work on a 64 bit Windows server. And if 10g XE was any indication, we would not be able to use it anyway since XE was NEVER patched for security flaws. One can only assume that 11g will not be either. So I rule that out.
The EPG facility is practically impossible to work with using windows 7 and IE 9 (which barely supports WEBDAV.) Most of the discussion on this forum is that it not the preferred way to go anyway. Rule that out too.
The 'Standalone' Apex listener is not 'standalone' at all. It requires Java, and 'Java Servlet Specification 2.3 or later'. Whatever that is... And where does one download that?
Also, from the documentation: "The Oracle Application Express architecture requires some form of web server to proxy requests between a web browser and the Oracle Application Express engine." Great! How do I configure it to work with IIS? THAT is already installed on the server and would make it easy. Yet the documentation is utterly silent on this. If all that APEX "architecture requires some form of web server to proxy requests between a web browser and the Oracle Application Express engine." Then why do I need to install something so complex as Glassfish or worse: Weblogic? At any rate, none of this is directed to anyone in particular, but just to express the great dismay in the unnecessary complexity of this install.
On a Windows server, you likely have IIS installed anyway, so why it not an option to install APEX in this manner?
Or did I overlook something?

In the past i have succeeded in installing Oracle 11g XE in Windows 64 bit Pro. I know that it does not work on Windows Home editions.

Also i have heard that some of more advanced Oracle database features such as session trace do not work properly in Oracle 11g XE 32-bit if installed on Windows 64-bit system. But apart from this, i am not sure whether you focus on the use of Oracle HTTP Server or on XE issue.

As far as the Oracle HTTP Server is concerned we use it on company along with 11g with no issues (i am not a DBA and it's on Linux machines).

As far as the XE is concerned there exist the drawbacks you mentioned, but beyond these it works. Generally, i have encountered though some problems after updating the version of APEX in the database, that resulted in removing the APEX from the database completely and then installing the latest version of APEX from apex.oracle.com in a APEX clean database. I usually use the EPG in development under Windows. I have not successfully install on XE under Windows the latest APEX version but i did not kept on trying more on it because of time.

I agree with you that people that want to use APEX, have made this choice in order not to use Java for development or even underlying Java Framework for the Engine. Oracle seems to push to APEX Listener (especially for niche things as REST Web Services and Native Excel file imports) but this is a Java component that requires a Java engine/servlet container to operate and this is exactly what people are trying to avoid to have/maintain. I am not sure if the push will continue and how much but i only hope that for the APEX Listener to operate we could get by with free software, so no need for exta costs.

Vorlon1 wrote:
Has someone put together a cookbook on installing the above? I have tried following the documentation; but it is in dire need of updating. I have become quite confused as to how to piece together alll of the parts. Seemed much easier in 10.2...
TIA!

After a database re-install on my Windows 7 laptop 2 months ago I tried to install the HTTP server but had trouble getting it to work. After a day or two I gave up and used the EPG which works with some performance issues - pages can take many seconds to render. I think there is a conflict between the EPG and security software on the laptop but have not been able to pin down the exact problem. Anyway, the EPG is not an option for you and even Oracle does not reccommend it for production implementations. The EPG is okay for quick-and-dirty R & D but real implentation should have something better. I prefer the EPG on my laptop because the Apex listener required an extra window to be open that I was likely to close by mistake (my error yes. Reality is sometimes stupid).

I have had several sucessful installs on older versions of Apex on Oracle 9 and 10 on Windows XP using the HTTP server but always struggle with the configuration; getting the settings in the .conf file (whatever it is called now) correct remains difficult (at least for me). I keep installation notes on problems encountered and their solutions. Typical issues I encounter are
1. Incorrect configuration file settings
2. Improper loading of images
3. Missing installation steps (unlocking ANONYMOUS, for instance, or not updating the PL/SQL version).
4. Make sure the correct URL is being used
5. When using the HTTP Server making sure it is running by using its URL is very heplful

Follow the installation instructions for your platform and listener. If something does not work first review the installtion instructions very carefully, then perform web searches for answers to the problem. Except for last time when I lost patience with the HTTP server the installations have always worked.

I also find Windows 7 painful - the added security prevents me from editing needed files without jumping through hoops. I don't even want to think about Windows 8 ...